Birds in the darkness
by LightningWolfHowl
Summary: After Cyclonia's victory seems complete, two sky knights find themselves separated from the rest of Atmos and all they hold dear. Years later, the unexpected arrival of an old enemy turns their new world upside down. Now, the sky knights have to choose whether to stay in their hidden paradise or return to save Atmos. AXStar
1. A bird in the darkness

Cyclonis watched pitilessly as her prisoner fell to his knees, he coughed up in the dirt before taking a few gasping breaths. The young man tried his best to get his breath back, having just been put through yet another five minutes of hell. This had been going on for too long and now she was beginning to get tired. She was frankly amazed that he still had any fight left in him. Still, it wouldn't be the first time that she had underestimated a Storm Hawk, although she was certain to make it the last...

Summoning what remained of his strength, which by now couldn't have been much, he managed to turn over to look at a group standing to his right. There were five figures, their faces obscured in the darkness. His vision was somewhat duller and blurrier than usual however he could make out their eyes only too well. They looked at him with a distant coldness that he was not accustomed to and he was certain that he would never be used to receiving it from them.

"Guys..." He managed wheezing slightly. "Please! Fight it!"

"Begging oh mighty sky knight? Now that doesn't sound much like the stories, I've heard so much about." Cyclonis taunted him, a cruel smile tracing itself on her lips. "Aren't you tired yet?"

"The only thing I'm tired of is hearing your voice." He replied with venom unexpected from one so injured.

"You wouldn't find me so bad if you gave in, like your friends over there did."

The man frowned in anger. Letting rage cloud his thoughts once more. Words couldn't describe how much he wanted to kill her. If only he had enough strength to get to his feet and march over to her. With this much anger, he was fairly certain that he could snap her neck like a twig. Sadly, precautions had been taken to ensure that he wasn't in any shape to do so.

Still, he tried. His arms and legs screamed at him, telling him not to move. His entire body felt as if it were on fire. He succeeded in raising his head and propping himself up somewhat although it felt to him as if his body might break at any moment. How long had he been enduring this? He couldn't have said. All he knew was that he was growing weaker by the hour and he wasn't sure that he would be able to hold out for much longer. Which was of course the intention.

His eyes drifted slowly onto the dark crystal in Cyclonis' hand, every now and then, it would pulsate and glow ever so faintly red. It's mere presence caused his hair to stand on end and a shiver to run down his spine.

Cyclonis came a little closer. Lowering her staff so that it virtually touched his nose. The sky knight looked up at her defiantly. She frowned activating the crystal once more causing a dark aura to form around the young man. With it he felt as if something was trying to get inside of him. As soon as it did, he forced himself to battle it with what remained on his strength. He knew what would happen to him if he stopped fighting even for a split second, his friends were an only too real terrifying and real example of that.

It lasted for about ten seconds, for every single one, he struggled to prevent the force from getting inside of him. It wanted his mind. He could hear it whispering to him; telling him that all would be well if he only gave in. He could though... He wouldn't... Cyclonis couldn't maintain the energy field for that long, he supposed he should be grateful for that much. Then again, the pain he was put through before she tried using the crystal on him was pretty much comparable.

"Why do you still resist?!" She asked him annoyance creeping into her voice.

"I'd rather die than end up your slave..." He muttered weakly but still managing to channel his determination through to her.

"A noble thought, that's why it will be all the more fun to break you." She walked over to one of the other figures and out her arm around their shoulders. "Your squadron said exactly the same thing, I managed to convince each and every one of them the opposite."

"Piper..." The young man called out his friend's name in a whisper. "Please- Fight it!"

"Why Aerrow?" She asked him, her voice cold and emotionless. "If you do as she says. Then, we can be together again; the Storm Hawks united."

The red haired sky knight lowered his head to avoid having to look at his friends. He lay with his face against the hard concrete floor trying to tell himself that this was all a nightmare and that he would awaken to find himself in the Condor and Atmos the same as it had always been. Sadly, he had been nursing that faint hope for too long now to believe in it any longer. He let out a sigh, a sharp pain struck his sore ribs as he did so. He struggled to hold back some tears, not because of the pain, he could deal with that. It was his friends the cause, he imagined what they would say if they could see themselves now.

God, he hoped that they weren't aware of what they were doing but if that was the case, then why was he still trying to appeal to their better nature? He always came to the same conclusion; that he tried to break through to them out of fear, he couldn't bring himself to think of his friends as being gone and so kept on trying to find them. He asked himself, the question when he was lying in his cell at night and wondering if he was going to live to see another day. He now increasingly prayed that he would not...

"Guys... Please..." His voice broke slightly as he called out to them once more.

"Storm Hawks, it looks like your fearless leader might need some more persuading." Cyclonis told them smirking slightly.

Aerrow instinctively closed his eyes knowing what would come next.

He could remember when he had first been lead in here. When he had first laid eyes on his squadron. At first, he had assumed that they were the same as he had always known them but then they had turned on him without so much as a word's warning. He had been struck down. A simple test of Cyclonis' to see just how loyal her new puppets were. The answer was very. They showed no remorse as they attacked him, not once as he called out to them had they so much as hesitated.

He knew that if she hadn't called them off when she had, they would easily have killed him and that hurt. It hadn't taken long for the sky knight to realize that Cyclonis' crystal only worked on those who didn't fight back. He wasn't too sure if she hoped that being beaten by his own friends would weaken his body too much for him to be able to resist it's effects or whether the master of Cyclonia believed that eventually his will to fight would give out.

She might not be all that wrong about the last one... The longer he spent here suffering at the hands of his friends, the more he found himself wondering why he was still fighting. All of them; Piper, Finn, Junko, Stork even Radarr had fallen pray to Cyclonis' control. Now, he was the only Storm Hawk with free will remaining; words couldn't describe how much that hurt. More than any wound that was for sure.

He couldn't have said how long it was before the Storm Hawks were told to stop attacking him by their new master. It felt like an eternity. Every blow from them seemed to hurt ten times more than it would have coming from anyone else in the Atmos and he had a lot of them. Every beating added new injuries to the old ones. In his cell at night, he would struggle to find a position in which to fall asleep which didn't hurt him. Last night he had been unable to and had only managed to get to sleep through sheer exhaustion.

"Still not willing to give in Storm Hawk?" Cyclonis repeated her usual question.

Her prisoner wished to snap back something witty as a response but found himself lacking both the physical strength and the mental capacity to do so. Everything seemed rather dull and faint, as if it were all happening a considerable distance away. For a few moments, he drifted in and out of consciousness. Each breath he took felt like it could shatter his chest, a broken rib or two was to blame no doubt. He didn't care to know the exact nature of his injuries; he knew that that they hurt and that was enough for him.

Cyclonis waited a few moments but seeing that she wasn't going to get a response let out a frustrated sigh.

"At this rate, he'll be dead before he turns..." Cyclonis muttered with annoyance as she sat back down on her throne.

"Should we take him back to his cell?" Junko asked looking down at his former leader.

"Perhaps you should feed him to the Sky Sharks..."  
>"I've always found it unbearable how childish you are if you don't get what you want Cyclonis."<p>

Despite his current state, Aerrow found himself opening his eyes in search of the new voice. He recognized it, although found himself unable to associate a face to the words spoken. A split second later, a small ball with yellow crystals sticking out of it landed at the Storm Hawks' feet. They looked down at it wondering what it was. By the time they realized just what it was, it was too late. Out of the little device came a powerful electric shock. Their old leader couldn't help but wince as his old team mates let out yells of pain before falling to the ground unconscious.

It was one of the few times that Aerrow had ever seen Cyclonis look truly surprised. Usually, she always seemed to have planned for everything and therefore was never taken aback. Maybe, with her victory pretty much complete she hadn't been expecting any resistance. Her dark eyes scowered the room but were unable to locate the source of the voice. She held her staff tightly, occasionally brandishing it in the direction of a shadow. After a few moments more of fruitless searching, she finally paused by the injured sky knight's body.

"Let me guess... A friend of the sky knight's?" Cyclonis asked the darkness before pointing the end of her staff at Aerrow's throat. "He can't have many of them left... Show yourself before I end his miserable life!"

"You'd be doing me a favour..." He managed weakly.

Cyclonis looked down at him darkly. No sooner had she done so that something shot out of the darkness. She had just enough time to raise a shield around herself. Aerrow turned his head, his vision was still blurry but he could make out a figure in the corner of the room. He let out a weak groan feeling very tired all of a sudden. Cyclonis took a couple of steps towards the intruder, her staff raised ready to blast them to oblivion.

"You?!" Cyclonis sounded surprised for the second time. "They told me you were dead?"

"I'd have thought that you would have learnt by now, sky knights don't die that easily!"

Struggling to remain conscious, Aerrow listened as he heard a fight begin. So the other person was a sky knight? Why couldn't he remember who that voice belonged to? Gathering his strength, he managed to open his eyes and take a look at just what was happening. He could make out Cyclonis' furious energy blasts echoing around the chamber but also the figure of the sky knight dodging them. Whoever they were, they moved with unbelievable agility and speed; then again they would need to if they didn't want to end up being vaporized.

Suddenly, they charged towards master Cyclonis. The blast that came from the staff skimmed the intruder's shoulder but didn't make contact. The other sky knight dealt the leader of Cyclonia a harsh blow to the face. She fell backwards in shock. Despite his dull vision, Aerrow made the blood coming down her face out all too well. It was likely just a flesh wound but then she wasn't all that used to those...

Seeing that their foe was currently incapacitated, the sky knight rushed over to the leader of the Storm Hawks' side. He found himself being gently shaken. He groaned in pain before narrowing his eyes slightly in an attempt to make out just who his rescuer was. Now he was a little closer, the features seemed more familiar.

"Aerrow! Aerrow!" Came a familiar British accent. "You need to pull yourself together!"

"S-Starling?" Aerrow only just managed to get out.

"Well it was never going to be a Murk Raider now was it?" She looked around concerned for a moment. "Come on! We have to get out of here now!"


	2. Falling from the sky

_**Sorry for the massive delay but with Christmas and stuff I didn't get around to writing any more. Anyway, here it is. Thanks for the reviews!**_

_**/**_

Aerrow heard Starling's words although for some reason, his body was less than willing to obey his commands. When he tried to move his arms, only the tips of his fingers budged. He let out a cough before taking a deep breath of air. He had to summon whatever strength he had left in order to raise himself to his feet... His muscles ached and screamed as he slowly and stiffly turned himself over. His arms physically shook as he struggled to brace himself. Starling attention was briefly taken away from him by Master Cyclonis who was showing signs of coming to.

"Aerrow come on! We need to go!"

She grabbed him by the arm pulling to his feet roughly. She ignored his unwilling complaint, acting as his support when he was finally standing. The red haired sky knight's head was spinning and without his friend, he would doubtlessly have fallen over. Starling didn't give him much time to recover, beginning to walk before he was even completely sure that his legs were going to bare his weight. She walked briskly despite the fact that she was having to help her injured friend by preventing him from falling.

He tried to recall the last time he had walked like this or even stood up of his own accord. A few days ago that for sure. Since then, he'd spent most of his time being dragged around by Cyclonians of one type or another. It was safe to say that what little strength he had left was barely enough to sustain his own weight, let alone continue at this pace. He found himself stumbling and several times he almost dragged Starling with him. She caught him however, pulling him back to his feet and allowing him to lean against her for support.

They made through the long and seemingly endless corridors. There didn't seem to be many Cyclonians hanging around, maybe that was because the most of them were away taking part in the conquest of what remained of free Atmos. That might have been the only good to come of the current situation. Starling gave him a concerned glance, she could sense only too well that her friend was severely injured and needed medical attention soon. Unfortunately, the middle of Cyclonia wasn't where they were going to get such things. So they had to keep on moving, even if she knew that the strain was likely only worsening his condition.

A couple of feet further down the corridor, Aerrow's legs buckled beneath him and he collapsed. This time, Starling was too slow to catch him only managing to hold him back somewhat before he hit the floor hard. He lay there gasping for breath and struggling to keep himself from slipping back into unconsciousness.

"Starling- Starling." He raised his voice as much as he could. "Leave me here please."

"Not a chance!" She replied in a stern tone. "I didn't risk my life coming here to abandon you half way there! I'll carry you if I have to!"

Starling gripped him firmly, pulling him back up to his feet. They continued walking once more. Aerrow was barely aware of it anymore. He found himself wondering if he was dying. Strangely, the thought didn't scare him that much. Many times recently, when he was lying on the floor in his cell he had found himself almost wishing for it. It would be a chance to escape the torment that he had been put through these past few weeks...

They eventually came to a hangar. Two sky bikes were waiting there. He frowned slightly recognizing his own. Starling guided him over to it. There was no way that he was going to be able to fly this thing. Not in his current shape... Yet she still helped him onto it.

"I can't fly this thing."

"Don't worry, I've got that one worked out." She assured him.

Starling was less than sure that her plan would work but she didn't want to let her severely injured friend know that. He had enough to worry about as it was without knowing that her escape plan was risky at best. Still, it was all they had. It wouldn't be long before Cyclonis had some of her lackeys chasing them, if they weren't already. With a wounded sky knight to look after, she wasn't all that likely to be able to hold them off for long.

Quickly reaching into the large backpack that she had brought with her, she got out a chain and attached her bike to Aerrow's. It was primitive but their only chance. She had backed on the Sky Knight being in better state than he was and as such had hoped for an ally capable of helping her out in a fight. As it stood, she was going to be lucky if he didn't slide off of the bike. She tested the chain a couple of times to ensure it wouldn't give way before starting Aerrow's skybike and placing a small crystal over the commands.

"Whatever you do, don't let go!"

She got a weak groan as a response. She struggled with the urge to go back and check on him once more but realized that they didn't have the time. Some Cyclonians were bound to turn up sooner or later and she didn't fancy their chances if they were caught out in the open like this. She revved her bike once before starting up. It came as something of a relief when Aerrow's bike followed her without it's passenger having to do anything. Thankfully that trader she had bought the autopilot crystal from hadn't being lying...

The two bikes took to the skies at quite a clip. Amazingly, there were no Cyclonians currently on the horizon. Her intel had been spot on, the first patrols were yet to return, whilst the second had just left. Now, she just needed to keep heading south if she wanted to avoid a confrontation. In truth, she didn't know where she was really going. Every last terra without exception was now under cyclonian rule; some had been conquered but after a few had tasted the wrath of Cyclonis' forces many had simply surrendered in order to protect their peoples and cities.

Starling honestly couldn't find it in her to begrudge them that...

She let out a deep sigh as she contemplated the vast expanse of red skyline. She had always hated the color of the skies around Cyclonia. The sky was their home, they had fought to protect it so very hard and for so long and now, they had lost it. As she flew away, the skies behind her would never be hers to fly in again... They were Cyclonis' now and what killed her was that she couldn't immediately see of a way for them to change that.

When the Storm Hawks had stood against Cyclonia, there had been hope. Even as one by one the other squadrons had fallen to the power of her crystal and had turned against those who they had once called flood. Even, when they had stood alone against all the other squadrons somehow that group of youths had still managed to inspire others to believe that all was no lost but now... Now, she had the last of the free Storm Hawks with her and he was only just clinging to life.

They flew for hours, uninterrupted through the skies. Starling would periodically check behind her to ensure that her friend was still there behind her. He was lying slumped against his bike, seemingly asleep. She was well aware that her friend would need medical attention sooner rather than later but she wanted to ensure that they were a good distance away from Cyclonia before daring to stop.

"Starling, where are we?" Came Aerrow's weak and raspy voice in a whisper.

"The hell if I know..."

She was no longer familiar with this part of the Atmos, for a while now the terras had been replaced by large jagged pieces of rock which would have been impossible to land on. The sky had changed to a darker and cloudier colour as if night was falling. Supposing that they had headed in a strictly straight line, then they were currently in pretty much uncharted territories. Good and bad; at least Cyclonians were less likely to be out here but on the other hand there was no saying what sort of hidden terrors could lie beyond their maps.

"How are you holding up?" She called back to him.  
>"I don't know." There was a pause for a few seconds. "Starling- I can't see..."<p>

"You can't?" She asked trying to mask her concern. "Well, I can't say that you're missing out on any great view."

She made an effort to try and hide the seriousness of the situation from Aerrow and perhaps if she was honest, from herself also. She didn't want to have to confess that she had no idea where they were going or even the true extent of her friend's injuries. Although she had never had any professional, she had a fair amount of practical experience when it came to dealing with wounds sustained in battle and she knew that loss of sight was never a good thing.

She turned around in order to try and speak some comforting words to her friend and tell him that all would be all right. Instead, her eyes fell upon something more sinister. A metallic glint in the distant horizon. She narrowed her eyes trying to make them out, she knew deep down what they were already and who they belonged to. A clean getaway was maybe too much to have hoped for... She looked down at her skybike for a moment and cursed, she was far too low on energy to be able to get into a fight and that was without even taking Aerrow into account.

"What is it?" Aerrow asked somehow sensing her concern.

"If we're lucky Cyclonians or Raptors." Starling replied contemplating their options. "And you want the really good news? We're pretty much running on fumes."

"Take my power crystal then." The injured sky knight suggested. "It's not as if I'm going to be much good in a fight."

"How many times?!" She raised her voice growing somewhat angry. "I'm not letting you die! Either we're both making it out of this or neither of us is!"

Just then, some fire from the sky bikes behind them skimmed past their bikes. Thankfully, their enemies were too far away and not skilled enough to be able to hit them but it wouldn't be long before they were in range. Starling ran over their options a couple of times; fighting was going to be impossible which only left two options : surrender – frankly, she didn't like to imagine what Master Cyclonis would do to them – or death. Neither were particularity appealing. Another volley of fire missed them although the gap was slightly narrower this time.

She turned to look in front of her, hoping for a miracle of some kind. What she saw might not be a miracle but it was at least a chance.

"Aerrow! There's a storm front right up ahead!" She called out. "I'm going to see if we can lose them in it!"

She didn't get an answer or maybe she simply couldn't hear it for the low grumbling of thunder. What they were heading for could best be described as a wall of thick black cloud. She could make out the occasional flash of lightning originating from inside the weather front and the winds were already becoming more violent. Ordinarily, she would have avoided such a storm; anyone with any sense would. Hopefully that included the Cyclonians following them...

Almost as soon as she entered the cloud, something went wrong. Her systems cut out abruptly causing her to have to start her bike again. The dials began spinning frantically. Both skybikes were buffered from side to side by strong wings. The rain drove into her eyes blinding her. _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..._ She thought to herself. Remembering her friend, she looked behind her to make sure he was still there. Despite the harsh conditions, she thought she could just about make out his read hair resting against his bike.

Another shake more violent this time knocked her systems out once more sending both bikes spiralling downwards. The Sky Knight struggled with her machine trying desperately to pull up but to no avail. Panic settling in, she called out as loudly as she could, unsure if Aerrow would be able to hear her over the storm :

"Brace yourself! This is going to be a crash landing!"


	3. Broken wings

_**Thanks for the reviews. I'm going to try and post about a chapter per week. Sorry about any delays. **_

…_**...**_

Starling opened her eyes. She was laying face down in the mud. It was raining heavily, her clothes were already drenched. Gathering her strength, she managed to prop herself up on her elbows and look around. They appeared to be on what could be in a plain of some kind, just on the edge of the terra. They had been lucky, a couple of feet less and they would have crashed right into the rocky cliff of the terra. As it was, her eyes instinctively looked around for any sign of life, by which she meant potential enemies. She could just about make out a forest and some mountains in the distance but there was absolutely no sign of any civilized life to speak of. For the moment, considering how vulnerable they currently were she was going to consider that a good thing; when they needed food however her opinion could rapidly change.

Her attention then turned back to her friend and their vehicles. Both sky bikes seemed to be in a rather bad shape. She would have to see if they could salvage anything from them tomorrow. Right now, it was more her human companion which concerned her. Aerrow had been thrown quite far by the crash and was currently lying on his back several feet away. She instinctively ran over to him to ensure that he was all right.

He still had all of his limbs, she guessed they could be grateful for that much. His eyes were closed tight but he was still breathing. Starling looked around, she had to get him out of the rain. In his current condition, it was important to keep him as warm and dry as possible. Ideally, he needed a hospital and a qualified doctor, now of course that was impossible so she was going to have to use some inventive thinking. First, thing was first... They needed shelter.

A bolt of lightning momentarily illuminated the sky for a few moments. Long enough however for Starling to spot a cave on the side of a mountain. It wasn't ideal but then nothing about this was, they needed shelter and that was the only place here which seemed to offer it.

"Aerrow, do you think you can stand?"

He let out a weak groan as a response. Slowly, his eyelids drifted open. Starling helped him to his feet, he could barely stand and so put virtually all of his weight against her. She managed to support him as they both set off towards the cave.

They moved at a painfully slow pace, thankfully, the forest provided them with some shelter from the storm. It was a veritable hurricane which was baring down upon them. The trees were virtually bent over backwards and the rain was gushing horizontally. In a way, Starling was grateful for the lightning because without it, she would never have been able to see where she was going and find her way through the forest and towards the cliff. All the time, she was trying to carry her friend as he only just managed to put one foot in front of the other.

She couldn't have said how long it took them to reach the cave, half an hour maybe. Far longer than it would have ordinarily that was for sure. The cave itself wasn't that deep but at least it offered some shelter from the wind and rain. She lead Aerrow inside, perhaps sensing that he had done his walking or maybe simply lacking the strength to take another step forwards, his legs suddenly gave way beneath him. She helped him down gently to ensure that he didn't smash his head open on the hard stone ground.

"We're here now. You can rest." She informed him in a gentle voice.

She didn't get a response. Aerrow was in that odd place between consciousness and sleep. If he was aware of what was going on, he certainly couldn't comment on it.

She let out a sigh and decided that it was probably about time to start dealing with her friend's injuries. She started by simply making him comfortable. She had brought some supplies with her although now, just looking at him, she found herself wondering if they would be enough. The first thing to do, was to keep him warm. She got a blanket out of her bag and covered him with it. He was still shivering however, Starling let out a sigh, it looked like she was going to have to light a fire. Then again, she certainly could do with the extra light.

Back out into the rain, the good news was that the storm had caused several dead branches to snap off of the trees. Allowing Starling to gather them as best as she could and carry them back to the cave. It was always going to be raining like this, nothing could ever be easy or simple for them; maybe that wasn't such a bad thing, after all it had caused both of them to become the sky knights they were.

She made it back to the cave and dumped the load of wood in a neat little heap. She cast Aerrow a glance, he was still awake but only just. His dull eyes contemplated her with a mark of curiosity. She offered him a faint smile which he failed to return, she guessed there wasn't much for him to be smiling about. It was then that she remembered what he had said about loosing his sight, it was unlikely that he was looking at her, she wasn't sure that he was even aware of her presence.

Light fire, give Aerrow medical help. That was her current list of priorities. She went back to her bag and pulled out one of several crystals she had acquired – or perhaps better put, stolen from Cyclonis' vault. Ordinarily, the wood would have been to wet to light, fortunately she was willing to bet this particular crystal would he able to help out. She wasn't much of a crystal expert, unlike Piper and Master Cyclonis, Starling only had an extremely basic grasp when it came to this sort of thing.

That might have explained why she almost incinerated herself. Flames shot out of the crystal at an almost uncontrollable rate, far more than she had initially expected. It was a good thing that she had taken the precaution of keeping it away from her. Starling let out a curse, allowing the gem to fall to the floor. She noted with a certain amount of satisfaction, that despite the near disaster, the fire had none-the-less been lit.

"Starling? What was that?" Aerrow asked in a weak and raspy voice.

"Just me almost frying myself." She picked the crystal up before putting it back into her bag. "That phoenix crystal sure packs a punch."

"You've got the phoenix crystal?" The wounded sky knight asked surprised before wincing in pain.

"Well, I certainly couldn't let Cyclonis get her hands on it." She replied kneeling next to him. "Hang on, I'll give you something for the pain."

She was confident that she knew more about medicine than she did about crystals. She suspected that Aerrow was suffering mainly from exhaustion but it was hard to tell and there was no saying what that witch had been doing to him whilst he was a prisoner. She'd definitely seen him looking healthier. He was pale and freezing to the touch. First thing was first, she propped his head up as gently as she could, creating a pillow out of what had been her parachute should she ever fall from her skybike.

"Chew this." She told him handing him a root. "You'll see, it will ease the pain."

Aerrow obliged. The root was found on many terras and could be used as quite a powerful painkiller. She felt her heart sink a little upon taking note of the Sky Knight's injuries, almost every single inch of him was black and blue from the numerous beatings he had been given cutesy of his possessed friends. The bruising alone must have caused him agony, ordinarily she would have applied some ice but in this case there was simply too much of it and she didn't want to make him any colder than he already was.

She prayed that none of the damage was internal. If it was, well- she didn't have the right equipment or knowledge to treat him with; the outcome if that was the case would be rather predictable and not a happy one. She maintained some hope however as Cyclonis hadn't intended to kill him but instead merely to break his spirit. Therefore his wounds, although painful might not actually be life threatening.

"Feeling better?" She asked him.

"It doesn't hurt so much." He replied horsely.

"Here, you must be thirsty."

She handed him a flask. His trembling hands were unable to grasp it however let alone carry it to his mouth. She held it for him allowing the injured sky knight to take several gulps of water. He paused only to gasp for air. When was the last time had drunk anything? A while ago, she was willing to bet. Deciding to play it safe, she took the flask away from him; it was possible to kill yourself from drinking too much especially if he hadn't had any for a while.

He continued to shiver somewhat, whilst the storm continued battering the terra outside. Every now and then a flash of lightning would illuminate the sky for a split second. It would be followed by a deafening clap of thunder which seemed to cause even the cave the shake. Aerrow would every now and then shudder or let out a groan of pain.

"Starling..." His voice was almost an inaudible whisper.

"I'm here." She assured him.

Unable to help her friend any further than she already had. Starling did the only thing that she could, she took his hand in his and remained by his side. Keeping silent vigil all night. All the time, she uttered a silent prayer that her friend would be all right and make a full recovery.

She couldn't bare to loose anyone else...


End file.
